Chapter 1243: Chapter 1243: The Earth That Devours Souls
“Three places in the Randall Valley, one in Tobesk, one in Pantanal—I’ve seen five places in just half a month.”
Shard sighed as he took out the prepared normal soil from his pocket for spellcasting. But after the soil was crumbled and scattered, the sorcery failed to take effect:
“This time it’s different from before; I need to see the core of the polluted area to purify this land.”
Shard dusted off his hands, and Iluna nodded. They both needed to enter the building ahead:
“So what’s the trait of this Crazy Earth this time? It’s not petrification or gathering of evil spirits like you’ve mentioned.”
The spirits in the mansion didn’t seem like evil spirits, at least not in appearance.
“Let’s just get inside. The lingering power of the evil object severely affects perception; I can’t quite tell what will happen.”
He drew out the Night Watchman, the silver blade glimmering under the moonlight. The longsword sensed the power of the evil object, and the runes on the blade lit up. Shard was ready for battle.
Inside the abandoned mansion, there was naturally no light. With the moonlight, they entered the corridor and found the stairs leading to the second floor, planning to meet the trapped spirits first.
The interior’s state of decay exceeded expectations; even the stairs were broken. Fortunately, for two Inner Ring Sorcerers, this was not an issue.
However, upon reaching the second floor, they found the spirits that had been staring at them from the window were all gone. The abandoned corridor was illuminated by the bright moonlight, which added an element of horror to the scene.
“Let me take a look.”
Iluna said, looking out the window and placing her hand on the windowsill, where a golden glimmer flickered under her palm. After a moment, she looked up, having sensed something:
“There are really a lot of spirits here. On the third floor, they’re all waiting for us.”
“All of them?”
“Every spirit here, at least several hundred.”
Although the exact number of the Granger family’s distant relatives, or the legal owners of this land, the Farmer family, was unclear, it was obvious there couldn’t be so many.
The stairs from the second floor to the third were also broken, and the walls of the stairwell were covered with graffiti written in blackened blood. These mad scribblings either cursed those who came here, lamented the unfairness of fate, or were nonsensical insults. Many things likely happened here in the past.
It’s impossible now to research who built this estate, but it’s clear that from its inception, the largest room on the third floor was used as a ballroom. When Shard and Iluna arrived at the third floor, music akin to a ball suddenly played in the empty building. The ballroom doors to the left of the stairs were open, warm yellow light spilling out. The clinking of glasses and conversations of men and women gradually became clear, as if a grand party was still ongoing here.
Shard and Iluna exchanged a glance. When they reached the ballroom entrance, they indeed saw a bright crystal chandelier and wall oil lamps under which a feast was being held. Ladies in evening dresses and gentlemen in tailcoats danced gracefully. Waiters in white shirts and red vests weaved through the crowd with trays and wine glasses. An elderly man with a monocle rested on a sofa in the corner lounge, chatting with acquaintances about amusing topics, while a middle-aged man in a military uniform stood by the window with youths, gazing at the scenery afar.
Such a lively party in the abandoned mansion made the scene increasingly bizarre. Shard knew it was fake, but couldn’t yet see through to the truth. Meanwhile, Iluna perceived entirely different visions in her left and right eyes, capable of revealing the truth with her divine eyes.
“Really, playing tricks like these… lend that to me.”
Annoyed, she took the Night Watchman from Shard’s hand and, holding the sword with both hands, pierced the carpet illuminated by the ballroom’s light:
“Edict – Magic Breaking!”
Golden light traces spread from the sword’s tip across the floor, not causing any disturbance in the corridor with peeling walls behind them, but in the ballroom ahead, golden ripples erased the colors, restoring the grand ballroom to its dilapidated state. The well-dressed men and women disappeared like bubbles.
The warmth felt on their skin reverted to the cold of a winter night, with a chill wind blowing through glassless windows and into the corridor. The empty ballroom was illuminated by the tri-colored moonlight from the window, with no grand party, only hundreds of shadowy spirits watching the two at the door.
In the center of the ballroom stood an old, long table with suspicious stains that resembled large patches of blood. At the end of the table sat a flamboyantly dressed male spirit. He was wearing attire from the old-time nobility appropriate for a ball, appearing middle-aged. Near the door-end of the table were two chairs, evidently prepared for Shard and Iluna.
“Are you Baron Farmer?”
Shard asked.
“Yes,”
The seated man replied, and as he spoke, the surrounding indistinct spirits became restless, but soon calmed down again.
“I am the owner of this estate. Wasn’t it a bit rude of you to barge into my house?”
The man asked while turning the face of the ring on his right hand with his left. Shard and Iluna walked in, pulled out chairs, and sat down. With just hundreds of souls, it’s not considered a threat:
“Well, I’m sorry for barging into your house.”
Shard looked at him:
“No offense intended, I just want to inquire about a person. Mr. Thomas Granger, if my investigation is correct, the Farmer Family has had a lot of correspondence with him. If possible, I’d like to know the content of your communications.”
The middle-aged noble clasped his hands together and placed them on the table:
“Thomas Granger…”
When saying these words, the spirit’s face was expressionless. He was stronger than most spirits Shard had ever seen—except for Thomas Granger in the Emerald Dream and the mutated evil spirit in the Interstice of Life and Death. Among the hundreds of souls dwelling in the house, this was undoubtedly the strongest individual:
“Yes, I do know him.”
The spirit’s thumbs pressed against each other’s knuckles:
“About seventy years ago, he wrote to me asking about matters concerning this estate and requested records related to this manor. Because of that, I remembered that the family owned this property, and coincidentally, the kingdom sent soldiers here to garrison, so I brought my family here. At the time, I hoped perhaps to find ancestors’ letters or relics that might be useful to Thomas… A week after landing, an epidemic broke out, and we all died.”
He spoke these words without expression, and Iluna quietly nudged Shard with her leg, signaling him to be ready for battle at any time.
“Do you resent him?”
Shard asked again.
“How could I not resent him? If my good friend hadn’t discussed this estate with me, would my entire family have died here?”
The Baron’s spirit stared at Shard, faint green flames visible in his eye sockets. Moonlight was blocked by drifting clouds, but the room was not at all dark, as all the spirits emitted a ghastly green glow:
“Did you know? This land is alive, and anyone who dies here will have their soul permanently bound and slowly swallowed by the Earth. The land draws power from all spirits, so the more spirits trapped here, the longer we can exist.”
Shard’s finger unconsciously tapped the tabletop:
“So, are you saying that one of us must stay for you to tell me the location of those letters?”
“Certainly not.”
The man shook his head slightly:
“I hope both of you will stay!”
With a loud bang, the door behind them shut automatically in the gale, and the thick curtains that shouldn’t exist swept shut with a swish, covering the windows. The spirits prowling around suddenly seemed to gain physical form, attacking Shard and Iluna with horrifying death-like appearances.
Ghastly green flames illuminated the banquet hall, and the howls and wails were enough to make even the most resolute person abandon the will to survive.
“Silvermoon.” / “Sun!”
Golden and silver light burst from the tide of souls, the sanctity and warmth directly melting the first batch of spirits rushing forward. As Shard and Iluna stood, two brass rings rotated behind them. The rings of fate were so close that as they spun clockwise and counterclockwise, they collided with ear-piercing sounds, sparking bright flashes.
The golden sunlight and holy silver moonlight jointly illuminated the enclosed space, and without the need for personal action, the wailing spirits voluntarily passed through walls and quickly fled.
The Baron’s spirit on the other side of the long table stared in shock at the scene before him, watching as if the sun and moon had truly descended here. He also wanted to escape downstairs through the walls, but as soon as his legs entered the floor, a flying silver halo looped around his neck.
His spirit’s movement abruptly stalled, followed by several more halos binding his hands and legs.
Shard extended his arm, and the Great Sin Chain shot out like a long serpent, crossing the table surface and binding the Baron, who was completely immobilized, dragging him across the dusty long table like a dead dog to the feet of Shard and Iluna.
Although spirits do not have the physical reflexes of a body, at this moment, the Baron felt himself trembling all over before the “Sun” and “Moon.” He glared at the two, the sharp end of the pitch-black chain pointing at his face; the cold metallic sensation was not lethal, but the filth of the Great Sin was enough to break this spirit.
“I believe that within this manor, there must be more than just you who can answer our questions.”